Academicus International Scientific Journal

9-35

Authors: Franco Ferrarotti

In a situation in which the market economy is regarded as so important and decisive as to induce the emergence of a market society, the notion of the «sacred» becomes essential. The market is perfectly legitimate as a forum of negotiations, but it has a purely instrumental value. A market society is a contradiction in terminis. Only the concept of the Sacred, despite its ambiguity, can preserve and enhance the final values on which a society is built (justice, love, human recognition, interpersonal dialogue).

46-53

Authors: Michele Marsonet

A pragmatist conception of logic rejects any kind of logical constructionism, based on the appeal to privileged ontological and epistemological items and to a perfect language supposedly provided by mathematical logic. Even in logic, “pluralism” must be the key-word if one does not want to be locked in the cage of conceptions that become rapidly outdated. Dealing with the dichotomy Absolutism/Relativism in logic, it may be observed that the enterprise of logic can be considered in several - and substantially different - perspectives, among which we find (1) the psychologistic, (2) the Platonistic, and (3) the instrumentalistic viewpoints. According to (1) logic is viewed as fundamentally descriptive, and its task is taken to be that of outlining a “theory of reasoning,” i.e. a systematic account of how we humans proceed when reasoning successufully. According to (3), instead, logic’s task is that of constructing rigorous systems codifying not only actual, but also possible instrumentalities for conducting valid inferences, and these would be available (should someone want to avail himself to them) for adoption as an organon of reasoning, but no empirical claims are made that anyone has (or will) avail himself of this opportunity. The logician devises a tool or instrument for correct reasoning, but does not concern himself about the uses of this instrument. Philosophy and logic cannot be linked so closely, and today the idea that the analytic style of philosophizing is just one style among many others, and not the only possible one, is gaining increasing acceptance.

62-81

Authors: Enrico Gandolfi

The article focuses on an empirical procedure aimed to harness digital games in exploring sensible issues in social research. By merging qualitative and creative methods and taking into account suggestions from Sociology, Media Studies, and Game Studies, the suggested approach combines single interviews, focus groups and participative design exercises according to a creative learning path. In order to put its effectiveness to the test, four groups of players (N: 20) with different attitudes toward play were recruited for addressing the theme of sustainability. The digital games Crusader Kings 2 and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri were selected as facilitating tools due to the related pertinence. Results show an increment of consciousness and awareness about the topic and a noteworthy potential in engaging subjects and stimulating their feedback in empirical investigations. In turn, some limits emerged to the extent that further interventions are required to stress and relativize the proposal.

94-110

Authors: Arlinda Memetaj

The private persons in any democratic state should have a right to dispute the administrative decisions affecting their rights, freedoms or interests before (among others) competent independent courts. It is the key precondition for the principle of transparent and responsible public administration as an integral part of democratic governance. In addition to the “judiciary control of the administrative decisions”, the private persons` human rights against the public administration may be also protected through the Ombudsman office. The increasing importance of the afore mentioned issues relating public administration and the various types of control of the administrative acts been long time ago reflected in the mandate of almost all of the key international inter-governmental organizations, especially the European ones including the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OSCE. The establishment of both effective public administration and administrative justice system has been for a long period of time among the most “important and urgent” final strategic objectives of almost any country in the Balkans region, including Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo. This process included (among others) establishing European-like Ombudsman offices in these countries. Against the above background the present paper firstly explains why the administration action must be controlled by the public, and it then outlines the European Right of Good Administration, the Ombudsman Office`s mandate. This is then followed by presenting the concept of European Administrative Space in terms of the Role of the OECD-SIGMA in Developing the Standards of Good Administration. Against the preceding sub-sections the paper further presents the basic legislative framework for action of the National Ombudsman Offices in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo, which is then followed by a short review of the actual state of play of the Principle No.2 of the SIGMA European Principles for Public Administration (as specifically related to the accountability) in the three countries, on the basis of the relevant international monitoring reports, including the most recent EU Commission`s Progress Report on those countries. The paper finally concludes that Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo all have already established the basic legislative framework for establishing their national administrative judiciary system alongside which there is the one related to their own national Ombudsman office as well, while all of them are still more or less far from being fully in line with the principle No.2 of the SIGMA European Principles for Public Administration (as specifically related to the accountability). As to later, the paper particularly stresses that Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo have (more or less) adopted rules on independent status, functioning and powers of their own ombudsman office and other oversight institutions in line with the relevant international standards, but their administrations are still too far of being ready and willing to fully implementing the ombudsman institutions` recommendations. The fully implementation of the above Principle No.2 is therefore one of the most important and serious present challenges for Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo on their individual road towards the EU membership, in terms of building up their individual European administrative capacity.

122-145

Authors: Wei-Bin Zhang

This paper proposes a dynamic economic model with health, human capital and wealth accumulation with elastic labor supply. The economic system consists of one industrial, one health, and one education sector. Our model is a synthesis of four main models in economic theory: Solow’s one-sector neoclassical growth mode, the Uzawa-Lucas two sector model, Arrow’s learning by doing model, and Grossman’s growth model with health. The model also includes Zhang’s idea about creative leisure or learning by consuming. Demand and supply of health service and education are determined by market mechanism. The model describes dynamic interdependence among wealth, health, human capital, economic structure, and time distribution among work, health caring, and education under perfect competition. We simulate the model and examine effects of changes in the propensity to consume health caring, the efficiency of producing health caring, the propensity to receive education, and the propensity to save.